Transmission apparatus, reception apparatus, communication system, and recording medium

ABSTRACT

A transmission apparatus configured to transmit image data to a reception apparatus through a network, in which a setting value for generating captured data and a setting value for generating image data by an encoding unit are updated according to reception of a command that sets the setting value for generating the captured data by the image capturing unit. When the setting value for generating the captured data is updated according to the received command, notification is performed through the network regardless of a restart process is performed.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No.15/214,272, filed on Jul. 19, 2016, which is a continuation of priorU.S. patent application Ser. No. 14/210,041, filed on Mar. 13, 2014, andissued as U.S. Pat. No. 9,423,868 on Aug. 23, 2016, which claims thebenefit of, and priority to, Japanese Patent Application No.2013-053592, filed Mar. 15, 2013, all of which applications and patentsare hereby incorporated by reference herein in their entireties.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to an image capturing device thatdistributes a captured image outside, and especially related to asetting change process of an image capturing unit and an encoding unit.

Description of the Related Art

Conventionally, in an image capturing device that transmits a capturedimage to a reception apparatus, a command group that instructs a settingchange from an external device to the image capturing device or start ofdistribution of an image is incorporated.

For example, a command group defined by the standard established in OpenNetwork Video Interface Forum (ONVIF) is known, for example.

As a command to the image capturing device, for example, a command thatinstructs, to the image capturing unit of the image capturing device,generation of image data having predetermined resolution is included.

Further, for example, a command that instructs, to an encoding unit thatencodes the image data generated by the image capturing unit, generationof image data having predetermined resolution is included.

Further, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2005-323007 disclosesan image capturing device including a control unit that controlsexpansion/compression of a captured image.

However, if one of a set value of the image data generated by the imagecapturing unit and a set value of the image data generated by theencoding unit is changed, an inconsistency is caused in the combinationof the both units, and the image data may not be able to be generated.

For example, assume that the resolution of the image data output fromthe image capturing unit is 1600×1200 pixels (the proportions=4:3), andthe resolution of the image data output from the encoding unit is1280×1024 pixels (the proportions=4:3).

Here, when a command is received from the external device, and theresolution of the image data output from the image capturing unit ischanged to 1920×1080 (Full HD, the proportions=16:9), an inconsistencyis caused between the resolution of the image data output from the imagecapturing unit and the resolution of the image data output from theencoding unit. That is, image data having the proportions of 16:9 isoutput from the image capturing unit to the encoding unit. Meanwhile,the proportions of the resolution of the image data output from theencoding unit is set to 4:3. Therefore, an inconsistency is causedbetween the proportions of the image data input to the encoding unit andthe proportions of the image data to be output from the encoding unit.In such a case, the encoding unit cannot generate the image data.

Therefore, to eliminate the inconsistency, it can be considered that theimage capturing device changes the setting of the proportions of theimage data to be output by the encoding unit from 4:3 to 16:9. However,if the image capturing device itself changes the setting, aninconsistency with the set value held by the external device connectedto the image capturing device is caused, and the setting change from theexternal device cannot be normally performed. That is, there is aproblem that the set value to the image capturing unit of the monitoringcamera and the set value to the encoding unit become inconsistentbetween the image capturing device and a client.

For example, assume that the proportions of the resolution of the imagedata output from the image capturing unit of the image capturing deviceand of the resolution of the image data output from the encoding unitare set to 4:3. At this time, in the external device connected to theimage capturing device, the resolution of the image data output from theencoding unit is stored to be 4:3.

Assume that a command to the image capturing unit is transmitted from anexternal apparatus to the image capturing device, and the resolution ofthe image data output from the image capturing unit of the imagecapturing device is changed to 16:9. In response to it, if the imagecapturing device changes the resolution of the image data output fromthe encoding unit to 16:9, an inconsistency with the setting of theencoding unit stored in the external device is caused, and the change ofthe resolution cannot be normally performed.

For example, although it is necessary to instruct the resolution havingthe proportions of 16:9 to the encoding unit of the image capturingdevice, in the external apparatus, a user interface for instructing anoutput of an image data that has the resolution having the proportionsof 4:3 to the encoding unit of the image capturing device is presented.Therefore, the change of the resolution cannot be normally performed.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

To solve the above-described problem, a transmission apparatus accordingto the present invention is, for example, a transmission apparatusconfigured to transmit image data to a reception apparatus through anetwork, the transmission apparatus including: an image capturing unitconfigured to generate captured data; an encoding unit configured toencode the captured data to generate the image data; a reception unitconfigured to receive, from the reception apparatus, a command that setsa set value for generating the captured data by the image capturingunit; an updating unit configured to update the set value for generatingthe captured data by the image capturing unit and a set value forgenerating the image data by the encoding unit according to the commandreceived by the reception unit; a control unit configured to perform arestart process of the transmission apparatus when the set value forgenerating the captured data is updated to a predetermined set value;and a communication unit configured to perform, through the network,notification indicating the transmission apparatus has been connected tothe network, regardless of whether the control unit performs the restartprocess, when the set value for generating the captured data has beenupdated according to the command received by the reception unit.

Further, a transmission apparatus according to the present invention is,for example, a transmission apparatus configured to transmit image datato a reception apparatus through a network, the transmission apparatusincluding: an image capturing unit configured to generate captured data;an encoding unit configured to encode the captured data to generate theimage data; a reception unit configured to receive, from the receptionapparatus, a command that sets a set value for generating the captureddata by the image capturing unit; an updating unit configured to updatethe set value for generating the captured data by the image capturingunit and a set value for generating the image data by the encoding unitaccording to the command received by the reception unit; a control unitconfigured to perform a restart process of the transmission apparatuswhen the set value for generating the captured data is updated to apredetermined set value; and a communication unit configured to perform,through the network, notification for causing the reception apparatus toacquire the set value for generating the image data, regardless ofwhether the control unit performs the restart process, when the setvalue for generating the captured data has been updated according to thecommand received by the reception unit.

Further, a transmission apparatus according to the present invention is,for example, a transmission apparatus configured to transmit image datato a reception apparatus through a network, the transmission apparatusincluding: an image capturing unit configured to generate captured data;an encoding unit configured to encode the captured data to generate theimage data; a reception unit configured to receive, from the receptionunit, a command that sets a set value for generating the image data bythe encoding unit; an updating unit configured to update the set valuefor generating the image data and a set value for generating thecaptured data according to the command received by the reception unit; acontrol unit configured to perform a restart process of the transmissionapparatus when the set value for generating the captured data by theimage capturing unit is updated to a predetermined set value; and acommunication unit configured to perform notification through thenetwork, regardless of whether the control unit performs the restartprocess, when the set value for generating the captured data has beenupdated according to the command received by the reception unit.

Further, a reception apparatus according to the present invention is,for example, a reception apparatus configured to receive image datathrough a network from an image capturing device including an imagecapturing unit and an encoding unit configured to encode captured datagenerated by the image capturing unit to generate the image data, thereception apparatus including: a transmission unit configured totransmit, to the image capturing device, a command that sets a set valuefor generating the captured data by the image capturing unit; and areception unit configured to receive, through the network, notificationindicating the image capturing device has been connected to the network,regardless of whether the image capturing device performs a restartprocess, when the set value for generating the captured data by theimage capturing unit has been set to the image capturing deviceaccording to the command transmitted by the transmission unit.

Further, a reception apparatus according to the present invention is,for example, a reception apparatus configured to receive image datathrough a network from an image capturing device including an imagecapturing unit and an encoding unit configured to encode captured datagenerated by the image capturing unit to generate the image data, thereception apparatus including: a transmission unit configured totransmit, to the image capturing device, a command that sets a set valuefor generating the captured data by the image capturing unit; and areception unit configured to receive, through the network, notificationfor causing the reception unit to acquire a set value for generating theimage data, regardless of whether the image capturing unit performs arestart process, when the set value for generating the captured data bythe image capturing unit has been set to the image capturing deviceaccording to the command transmitted by the transmission unit.

Further, a reception apparatus according to the present invention is,for example, a reception apparatus configured to receive image datathrough a network from an image capturing device including an imagecapturing unit and an encoding unit configured to encode captured datagenerated by the image capturing unit to generate the image data, thereception apparatus including: a transmission unit configured totransmit, to the image capturing device, a command that sets a set valuefor generating the image data by the encoding unit; and a reception unitconfigured to receive, when a set value for generating the captured datahas been updated in the image capturing device according to the commandtransmitted by the transmission unit, notification according to theupdate through the network, regardless of whether the image capturingdevice performs a restart process.

Further, a reception apparatus according to the present invention is,for example, a reception apparatus configured to receive image datathrough a network from an image capturing device including an imagecapturing unit and an encoding unit configured to encode captured datagenerated by the image capturing unit to generate the image data, thereception apparatus including: a display control unit configured todisplay, in a display unit, a setting screen including a first settingarea configured to display a graphical user interface for setting a setvalue for generating the captured data by the image capturing unit, anda second setting area configured to display a graphical user interfacefor setting a set value for generating the image data by the encodingunit; a transmission unit configured to transmit, when the setting valuefor generating the captured data has been changed through the graphicaluser interface displayed in the first setting area, a command that setsa set value for generating the changed captured data, to the imagecapturing device; and a reception unit configured to receivenotification indicating the image capturing device has been connected tothe network according to the transmission of the command, in which thetransmission unit transmits, to the image capturing device, anacquisition request of the set value for generating the image data whenthe notification is received, and the display control unit displays theset value for generating the image data acquired by the acquisitionrequest in the graphical user interface displayed in the second settingarea.

Further, a reception apparatus according to the present invention is,for example, a reception apparatus configured to receive image datathrough a network from an image capturing device including an imagecapturing unit and an encoding unit configured to encode captured datagenerated by the image capturing unit to generate the image data, thereception apparatus including:

a display control unit configured to display, in a display unit, asetting screen including a first setting area configured to display agraphical user interface for setting a set value for generating thecaptured data by the image capturing unit, and a second setting areaconfigured to display a graphical user interface for setting a set valuefor generating the image data by the encoding unit;

a transmission unit configured to transmit, when the setting value forgenerating the captured data has been changed through the graphical userinterface displayed in the first setting area, a command that sets a setvalue for generating the changed captured data, to the image capturingdevice; and

a reception unit configured to receive, according to the transmission ofthe command, notification transmitted by the image capturing deviceaccording to the command so as to cause the reception apparatus toacquire the set value for generating the image data,

in which the transmission unit transmits, to the image capturing device,an acquisition request of the set value for generating the image datawhen the notification is received, and

the display control unit displays the set value for generating the imagedata acquired by the acquisition request in the graphical user interfacedisplayed in the second setting area.

Further, a reception apparatus according to the present invention is,for example, a reception apparatus configured to receive image datathrough a network from an image capturing device including an imagecapturing unit and an encoding unit configured to encode captured datagenerated by the image capturing unit to generate the image data, thereception apparatus including: a display control unit configured todisplay, in a display unit, a setting screen including a first settingarea configured to display a graphical user interface for setting a setvalue for generating the captured data by the image capturing unit, anda second setting area configured to display a graphical user interfacefor setting a set value for generating the image data by the encodingunit; a transmission unit configured to transmit, when the setting valuefor generating the image data has been changed through the graphicaluser interface displayed in the second setting area, a command that setsa set value for generating the changed image data, to the imagecapturing device; and a reception unit configured to receive, accordingto the transmission of the command, notification according to settingfor generating the captured data having been changed by the imagecapturing device, in which the transmission unit transmits, to the imagecapturing device, an acquisition request of the set value for generatingthe captured data when the notification is received, and the displaycontrol unit displays the set value for generating the captured dataacquired by the acquisition request in the user interface displayed inthe first setting area.

Further features of the present invention will become apparent from thefollowing description of exemplary embodiments (with reference to theattached drawings).

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1A is a diagram illustrating an example of an image capturingdevice according to the present invention;

FIG. 1B is a diagram illustrating a configuration of atransmission/reception system according to an embodiment;

FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating a configuration of a transmissionapparatus and a reception apparatus according to a first embodiment;

FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating an example of a parameter held by thetransmission apparatus;

FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating an example of a correspondingrelationship between setting to an image capturing unit of thetransmission apparatus and setting to an encoding unit of thetransmission apparatus;

FIG. 5A is a diagram illustrating a command sequence from start ofsetting to distribution of a video image between the transmissionapparatus and a reception apparatus in the first embodiment;

FIG. 5B is a diagram illustrating a command sequence of when a modechange of VSM without restart is performed between the transmissionapparatus and the reception apparatus in the first embodiment;

FIG. 5C is a diagram illustrating a command sequence of when a modechange of VSM with restart is performed between the transmissionapparatus and the reception apparatus in the first embodiment;

FIG. 6A is a flowchart illustrating a SetVSM command process by thetransmission apparatus of the first embodiment;

FIG. 6B is a flowchart illustrating a GetVideoOptions command process bythe transmission apparatus of the first embodiment;

FIG. 6C is a flowchart illustrating a SetVEC command process by thetransmission apparatus of the first embodiment;

FIG. 6D is a flowchart illustrating restart process by the transmissionapparatus of the first embodiment;

FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating a first example of a user interfacedisplayed in a client in the first embodiment;

FIG. 8A is a diagram illustrating a command sequence of when outputresolution of an encoding unit is changed between a transmissionapparatus and a reception apparatus in a second embodiment;

FIG. 8B is a diagram illustrating a command sequence of when resolutionof image data output from the encoding unit is changed, and when newlyset VSM involves restart between the transmission apparatus and thereception apparatus in the second embodiment;

FIG. 9A is a flowchart illustrating an operation of the transmissionapparatus in the second embodiment;

FIG. 9B is a flowchart illustrating a SetVEC command process of thetransmission apparatus in the second embodiment;

FIG. 10A is a diagram illustrating a command sequence from a settingchange of VSM to distribution of a video image between a transmissionapparatus and a reception apparatus in a third embodiment;

FIG. 10B is a diagram illustrating a command sequence of when outputresolution of an encoding unit is changed between the transmissionapparatus and the reception apparatus in the third embodiment;

FIG. 11A is a flowchart illustrating a SetVSM command process of thetransmission apparatus in the third embodiment;

FIG. 11B is a flowchart illustrating a SetVEC command process of thetransmission apparatus in the third embodiment; and

FIG. 12 is a diagram illustrating a second example of a user interfacedisplayed in a client in the first embodiment.

DESCRIPTION OF THE EMBODIMENTS

Hereinafter, favorable embodiments of the present invention will bedescribed in detail with reference to the appended drawings.

First Embodiment

FIG. 1A is a diagram illustrating a monitoring camera 1000 (transmissionapparatus) in the present embodiment. A pan mechanism 1101 is amechanism that changes a direction of an image capturing system of themonitoring camera 1000 to a pan direction. Further, a tilt mechanism1102 is a mechanism that changes the direction of the image capturingsystem of the monitoring camera 1000 to a tilt direction. Further, azoom mechanism 1103 is a mechanism that changes a zoom magnification ofthe image capturing system of the monitoring camera 1000. In the presentinvention, the pan mechanism 1101, the tilt mechanism 1102, and the zoommechanism 1103 are not indispensable configurations.

FIG. 1B is a configuration diagram of a communication system includingthe monitoring camera 1000. The monitoring camera 1000 and a client 2000(reception apparatus) are connected in a state of being capable ofmutual communication through an IP network 1500. The client 2000transmits various commands such as change of an imaging parameterdescribed below, pan head drive, and start of video streaming to themonitoring camera 1000. The monitoring camera 1000 transmits a responseor video streaming in response to the commands to the client 2000.

FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating a configuration of the monitoringcamera 100.

The control unit 1001 controls configurations of the monitoring camera1000 illustrated in FIG. 2. The control unit 1001 is, for example, acentral processing unit (CPU) and the like.

The control unit 1001 performs, as described below, a restart process ofthe monitoring camera 1000 when causing captured data generated by theimage capturing unit 1003 to be a predetermined set value (for example,predetermined resolution, a predetermined frame rate, or a predeterminedcoding format).

Further, the control unit 1001 performs, as described below, control ofupdating at least one of set values of resolution, a frame rate, and acoding format of image data generated by the encoding unit 1004according to a command from the client 2000.

Further, the control unit 1001 performs, as described below, control ofupdating at least one of set values of resolution, a frame rate, and acoding format of image data generated by the image capturing unit 1003according to a command from the client 2000.

The storage unit 1002 is mainly used as storage areas of various datasuch as a storage area of programs executed by the control unit 1001, awork area during execution of a program, and a storage area of imagedata generated by the image capturing unit 1003 described below.

The image capturing unit 1003 generates captured data. The imagecapturing unit 1003 converts an analog signal acquired by photographingan object into digital data, and outputs the digital data to the storageunit 1002 as a captured image. The image capturing unit 1003 supports aplurality of resolution of image data to be output, frame rates, andsetting modes (VideoSourceMode) of a coding system that can be used. TheVideoSourceMode can be switched by a SetVideoSourceMode commanddescribed below.

The encoding unit 1004 encodes the captured data generated by the imagecapturing unit 1003 to generate image data. The encoding unit 1004performs an encoding process with respect to the captured image outputfrom the image capturing unit 1003 based on a format such as JPEG orH.264. The image data subjected to the encoding process is output to thestorage unit 1002. The types of the resolutions of the image data outputfrom the encoding unit 1004 has a corresponding relationship with themodes of the image capturing unit 1003 as illustrated in FIG. 4described below.

The communication unit 1005 receives control commands from the externaldevice. Further, the communication unit 1005 transmits, to the externaldevice, responses to the control commands.

The communication unit 1005 receives, as described below, a command thatsets a set value of at least one of the resolution, the frame rate, andthe coding format of the captured data generated by the image capturingunit 1003 from the client 2000. As the set value, a plurality of sizesof the resolution, a range of the frame rate, or a plurality of types ofthe coding formats, which is used by the image capturing unit 1003 togenerate the captured data, can be included.

Further, the communication unit 1005 receives, from the client 2000, acommand that sets a set value of at least one of the resolution, theframe rate, and the coding format of the image data generated by theencoding unit 1004. As the set value, a plurality of sizes of theresolution, a range of the frame rate, or a plurality of types of thecoding formats, which is used by the encoding unit 1004 to generate theimage data, can be set.

Further, the communication unit 1005 transmits, to the client 2000,update notification indicating that the monitoring camera hasautomatically updated setting of at least one of the resolution, theframe rate, or the coding format of the image data generated by theencoding unit 1004.

Further, the communication unit 1005 transmits, to the client 2000,update notification indicating that the monitoring camera 1000 hasautomatically updated setting of at least one of the resolution, theframe rate, or the coding format of the captured data generated by theimage capturing unit 1003.

The image capturing controller 1006 controls the tilt mechanism 1102,the pan mechanism 1101, and the zoom mechanism 1103 according to valuesof a pan angle, a tilt angle, a zoom magnification input by the controlunit 1001. Further, the image capturing controller 1006 provides acurrent pan angle value, tilt angle value, and zoom magnification valuein response to an inquiry from the control unit 1001.

As described above, while the configuration of the monitoring camera1000 has been described with reference to FIG. 2, the processing blocksillustrated in FIG. 2 describe an example of a favorable embodiment of asecurity camera in the present invention, and the embodiment is notlimited to the example. Various modifications and changes are possiblewithin the scope of the gist of the present invention, such as providingan audio input unit and removing the image capturing controller.

Next, names and content of the commands, parameters, and the like usedin the present embodiment will be described.

FIG. 3 illustrates a structure of a parameter held by the monitoringcamera 1000 in the present embodiment.

MediaProfile 6100 is a parameter set for storing various types ofsetting items of the monitoring camera in association with each other.The MediaProfile 6100 includes ProfileToken that is an ID of theMediaProfile 6100. Further, the MediaProfile 6100 includesVideoSourceConfiguration (hereinafter, VSC) 6102,VideoEncoderConfiguration (hereinafter, VEC) 6103, and PTZConfiguration6104. Further, the MediaProfile 6100 holds a link to the various typesof setting items including an encoder of audio, and the like.

The VideoSource 6101 is an aggregation of parameters that indicate theperformance of a single image capturing unit 1003 included in themonitoring camera. The VideoSource 6101 includes the VideoSourceTokenthat is an ID of the VideoSource 6101, and Resolution that indicatesresolution of image data that can be output by the image capturing unit1003.

The VideoSource 6101 supports maximum resolution of the image data thatcan be output, the frame rate, and a plurality of VideoSourceModes(hereinafter, VSMs) including coding systems that can be used. The VSMcan be switched by the SetVideoSourceMode command. Details of the VSMwill be described below.

The VSC 6102 is an aggregation of parameters that associate theVideoSource 6101 provided in the monitoring camera with the MediaProfile6100. The VSC 6102 includes Bounds that designates which part issegmented from the image data output from the VideoSource 6101 and is tobe a distributed image.

The VEC 6103 is an aggregation of parameters that associate encodersetting related to encoding of image data with the MediaProfile 6100.

The image capturing unit 1003 of the monitoring camera 1000 outputsimage data based on the content of the VideoSource 6101 and the VSC6102. The encoding unit 1004 encodes the image data output from theimage capturing unit 1003 according to a coding system set in the VEC6103 (for example, JPEG or H.264), the frame rate, and the parameterssuch as the resolution. The communication unit 1005 distributes theimage data encoded by the encoding unit 1004 to the client 2000 as adistribution image.

The VEC 6103 includes VideoEncoderConfigurationToken that is an ID foridentifying the VEC 6103. Further, the VEC 6103 includes Encoding thatdesignate the coding system, and Resolution that designate theresolution of an output image. Further, the VEC 6103 includes Qualitythat designates the encoding quality, FramerateLimit that designates amaximum frame rate of the output image, and BitrateLimit that designatesa maximum bit rate.

The PTZConfiguration 6104 is an aggregation of parameters thatassociates setting related to the pan mechanism 1101, the tilt mechanism1102, and the zoom mechanism 1103 of the monitoring camera 1000 with theMediaProfile 6100. The PTZConfiguration 6104 includes informationrelated to a coordinate system that represents actual pan/tilt anglevalues and zoom magnification value in the pan mechanism, the tiltmechanism, and the zoom mechanism.

The table of FIG. 4 illustrates the VSMs supported by the monitoringcamera 1000 and the setting content of the VECs corresponding to therespective VSMs. The VEC corresponding to each VSM is consistent withthe VSM. The table of FIG. 4 is stored in the storage unit 1002 in themonitoring camera 100 in advance, and is referred by the control unit1001 as needed.

ModeNo. 4000 indicates a mode number of the VSM used by the monitoringcamera 1000 in an internal process. In the present example, themonitoring camera 1000 supports three VSMs of S1, S2, and S3.

MaxResolution 4001 is a parameter indicating maximum resolution outputby the image capturing unit 1003 in each VSM.

MaxFramerate 4002 is a parameter indicating a maximum frame rate thatcan be output by the image capturing unit 1003 in each VSM.

Encoding 4003 is a parameter indicating a coding system of the VEC thatcan be used in each VSM.

RebootFlag 4004 is a parameter indicating whether the image capturingunit 1003 requires restart when switching to each VSM is performed. Arestart process of the monitoring camera 1000 is caused when switchingto the VSM in which the RebootFlag 4004 is True is caused by theSetVideoSourceMode command.

The VSM includes an Enabled flag in addition to these parameters.Currently, True is set to an Enabled flag of an effective VSM set to theimage capturing unit 1003, and False is set to other Enabled flags.

The parameters 4005 to 4007 indicate a settable range and options ofeach parameter of the VEC 6103 that can be set to the VEC 6103 by theSetVideoEncoderConfiguration command from an external device in eachVSM.

An option 4005 indicates options of the coding system. For example, whenthe VSM is S1, the option 4005 indicates only H.264 is selectable as thecoding system.

As described above, the resolution for generating image data is set sothat the coding system can be included in the options of the codingsystem set for generating captured data.

An option 4006 indicates options of the resolution (Resolution) of theVEC. In the example of FIG. 4, when the VSM is S2, the option indicatesresolutions of 3200×2400, 2048×1536, 1024×768, and 640×480 areselectable.

As described above, the resolution for generating image data is set sothat the resolution can be included in the options of the resolution setfor generating captured data.

An option 4007 indicates a settable range of FramerateLimit of the VEC.For example, when the VSM is S3, the option indicates the FramerateLimitin a range from 1 to 30 fps can be designated.

As described above, the frame rate for generating image data is set sothat the frame rate becomes the frame rate set for generating captureddata or less.

The options 4005, 4006, and 4007 are notified to the client 2000 as aresponse to a GetVECOptions command. Here, aGetVideoEncoderConfigurationOptions command is a command from the client2000 to the monitoring camera 1000 for requesting notification of theoptions of the set values that can be set to the encoding unit 1004 ofthe monitoring camera 1000. Hereinafter, theGetVideoEncoderConfigurationOptions command is represented asGetVECOptions command.

FIG. 5A illustrates an example of a command sequence from start ofsetting to distribution of a video image between the monitoring camera1000 and the client 2000. A pair of a command transmitted from theclient 2000 to the monitoring camera 1000 and a response returned fromthe monitoring camera 1000 to the client 2000 is referred to astransaction.

An event 7098 is a network joining notification (reconnectionnotification) event. The monitoring camera 1000 transmits the event tothe network by multicast, and indicates, to a connected external device,the monitoring camera 1000 has become to be able to receive a command.

A transaction 7099 is a transaction of a GetServiceCapabilities command.The GetServiceCapabilities command is a command that instructs returningof function information that indicates functions supported by themonitoring camera 1000. The function information includes informationthat indicates whether the monitoring camera 1000 handles switching ofthe VSM.

A transaction 7100 is a transaction of a GetVideoSourceConfigurationscommand. The client 2000 acquires a list of the VSC 6102 held in themonitoring camera 1000 by transmitting the command to the monitoringcamera 1000 (transmission procedure).

A transaction 7101 is a transaction of a GetVideoEncoderConfigurationscommand. The client 2000 acquires a list of the VEC 6103 held in themonitoring camera 1000 by transmitting the command to the monitoringcamera 1000 (transmission procedure).

A transaction 7102 is a transaction of a GetConfigurations command. Theclient 2000 acquires a list of the PTZConfiguration 6104 held in themonitoring camera 1000 with the command.

A transaction 7103 is a transaction of a CreateProfile command. Theclient 2000 creates new MediaProfile 6100 in the monitoring camera 1000with the CreateProfile command, and obtains ProfileToken thereof. Afterthe command process, the monitoring camera 1000 transmits a changenotification event of MediaProfile in order to notify the client on thenetwork of the change of MediaProfile.

A transaction 7104 is a transaction of an AddVideoSourceConfigurationcommand.

A transaction 7105 is a transaction of an AdddVideoEncoderConfigurtioncommand.

A transaction 7109 is a transaction of an AddPTZConfiguration command.

The client 2000 designates an ID of MediaProfile in the commands of thetransactions 7104, 7105, and 7109. As described above, the client 2000can associate desired VSC, VEC, and PTZConfiguration with the designatedMediaProfile.

After these command processes, the monitoring camera 1000 transmits achange notification event of MediaProfile in order to notify the clienton the network of a fact that some sort of change is caused inMediaProfile.

A transaction 7106 is a transaction of a GetVECOptions command. Theclient 2000 acquires, with these commands, the options of the parametersand the range of the set values that can be received by the monitoringcamera 1000 in the VEC designated with the ID.

A transaction 7107 is a transaction of a SetVideoEncoderConfigurationcommand. The client 2000 sets the parameters of the VEC 6103 with thecommand. After the command process, the monitoring camera 1000 transmitsa change notification event of the VEC in order to notify the client onthe network of a fact that the VEC has had a change.

A transaction 7110 is a transaction of a GetStreamUri command. Theclient 2000 acquires, with the command, an address (for example, auniform resource identifier (URI)) used by the monitoring camera 1000 toacquire a distribution stream, based on the setting of the designatedMediaProfile.

A transaction 7111 is a transaction of a Describe command. The client2000 requests and acquires information of content streamed by themonitoring camera 1000 by executing the command using the URI acquiredin the transaction 7110.

A transaction 7112 is a transaction of a Setup command. A method oftransmitting a stream including a session number is shared between theclient 2000 and the monitoring camera 1000 by execution of the commandusing the URI acquired in the transaction 7110.

A transaction 7113 is a transaction of a Play command. The client 2000requests start of streaming to the monitoring camera 1000 by executingthe command using the session number acquired in the transaction 7112.

A transaction 7114 is a distribution stream. The monitoring camera 1000distributes the stream, start of which has been requested in thetransaction 7113 by the transmission method shared in the transaction7112.

A transaction 7115 is a transaction of a Teardown command. The client2000 requests stop of the stream to the monitoring camera 1000 byexecuting the command using the session number acquired in thetransaction 7112.

A transaction 7116 is a network leaving notification event (leavingnotification). The monitoring camera 1000 transmits the event to thenetwork by multicast, and indicates, to a connected external device,that the monitoring camera 1000 has become not to be able to receive acommand.

FIG. 5B illustrates a command sequence of when a mode change of the VSMwithout restart is performed between the monitoring camera 1000 and theclient 2000. In the present embodiment, a mode change of the VSM isperformed without restart with reference to the table illustrated inFIG. 4 when the RebootFlag 4004 of the mode of the VSM to be selected isFalse. That is, when the restart information associated with the mode ofthe VSM to be selected indicates restart is not required when the modeis changed to the VSM, the mode change of the VSM is performed with thefollowing command sequence.

A transaction 7200 is a transaction of a GetServiceCapabilities command.The GetServiceCapabilities command is a command that instructs returningof the function information that indicates functions supported by themonitoring camera 1000. The function information includes informationindicating whether the monitoring camera 1000 handles the switching ofthe VSM.

A transaction 7201 is a transaction of a GetVideoSourceMode command. TheGetVideoSourceMode command is a command that instructs returning of thelist of the VSM supported by the VideoSource 6101 having the IDdesignated by the client 2000. When having determined that themonitoring camera 1000 handles the switching of the VSM with theGetServiceCapabilities command 7200, the client 2000 acquires the VSMsupported by the monitoring camera 1000 with the command. When havingreceived the GetVideoSourceMode command, the control unit 1001 of themonitoring camera 1000 acquires the parameters of VSMs of S1 to S3stored in the storage unit 1002 illustrated in FIG. 4, and returns theparameters to the client 2000 through the communication unit 1005.

A transaction 7202 is a transaction of a SetVideoSourceMode command. TheSetVideoSourceMode command is a command that instructs changing of theVSM of the VideoSource 6101 designated by the client 2000 (for example,from S1 to S3 of FIG. 4). After the switching of the VSM, the controlunit 1001 of the monitoring camera 1000 transmits a VSM changenotification event in order to notify the client on the network of thechange of the VSM.

A transaction 7203 indicates a process of updating inconsistency of theVEC caused between the VEC and the VideoSourceMode due to the switchingof the SetVideoSourceMode illustrated in transaction 7202. When theupdate is performed, the control unit 1001 of the monitoring camera 1000transmits a VEC change notification event, and notifies the client onthe network of the set value of the VEC and reacquisition of the optionsof the set value of the VEC.

As described above, the monitoring camera 1000 according to the presentembodiment notifies the client 2000 of, when having automaticallyupdated the VEC with the change of the VSM, the fact of the update evenif the restart process is not required when changing the setting of theimage capturing unit 1003 to a predetermined VSM.

That is, when having set the set value for generating the captured data,the monitoring camera 1000 performs, through the network, notificationfor causing the client 2000 to acquire the set value (for example, theVEC) for generating image data regardless of whether performing therestart process.

A transaction 7204 is a transaction of a GetVECOptions command. Further,a transaction 7205 is a transaction of a GetVideoEncoderConfigurationscommand. The client 2000 that has received a VEC change notificationevent illustrated in transaction 7203 acquires the updated set value ofthe VEC and the options of the set value of the VEC with these commands.

As described above, the monitoring camera 1000 receives an acquisitionrequest of the updated set value (VEC) from the client 2000 that hasreceived the VSM change notification.

FIG. 5C illustrates a command sequence of when a mode change of the VSMwith restart is performed between the monitoring camera 1000 and theclient 2000.

In FIG. 5C, the transaction 7201 and preceding transactions and thetransaction 7204 and subsequent transactions are similar to those ofFIG. 5B.

In the present embodiment, a mode change of the VSM is performed withrestart with reference to the table illustrated in FIG. 4 when theRebootFlag 4004 of the selected mode of the VSM is True. That is, whenthe restart information associated with the selected mode of the VSMindicates restart is required when the mode is changed to the VSM, themode change of the VSM is performed according to the following commandsequence.

A transaction 7399 is a transaction of a SetVideoSourceMode command thatchanges the mode to the VSM that requires restart. In the example of thecommand sequence illustrated in FIG. 5C, the monitoring camera 1000 doesnot transmit the VSM change notification event in the transaction 7399.

A process 7400 indicates a process of updating the inconsistency causedbetween the VSM and the VEC due to the switching of theSetVideoSourceMode illustrated in transaction 7399. In this case, themonitoring camera 1000 does not transmit the VEC change notificationevent at this timing.

An event 7401 is a restart process of the monitoring camera 1000. Themonitoring camera 1000 first transmits a network leaving notificationevent to the network. Next, the monitoring camera 1000 performs arestart process. After the restart, the monitoring camera 100 transmitsa network joining notification event to the network.

An event 7402 is a VSM change notification event. Further, an event 7403is a VEC change notification event. The monitoring camera 1000 transmitsthese events after the restart and prompts the client 2000 to reacquirethe set value.

As described above, when a restart process is required when themonitoring camera 1000 has changed the setting of the image capturingunit 1003 to a predetermined VSM, the monitoring camera 1000 accordingto the present embodiment notifies the client 2000 of, when havingautomatically updated the VEC with the change of the VSM, the fact ofthe change.

That is, when having set the set value for generating the captured data,the monitoring camera 1000 performs notification for causing the client2000 to acquire the set value for generating image data regardless ofwhether performing the restart process. The notification for causing theclient 2000 to acquire the set value for generating image data is, forexample, the VEC change notification.

Next, processes performed by the monitoring camera 1000 of the presentembodiment will be described with reference to FIGS. 6A to 6D. In anembodiment in which a processor is built in the control unit 1001 of themonitoring camera 1000, the process flows from FIG. 6A to FIG. 6Dindicate a program for causing the control unit 1001 to execute theprocedures illustrated in FIGS. 6A to 6D. The processor built on thecontrol unit 1001 is a computer, and executes a program read out fromthe storage unit 1002 built in the monitoring camera 1000.

FIG. 6A illustrates processes of when the monitoring camera 1000 hasreceived the above-described SetVideoSourceMode command from the client2000 (reception procedure). The SetVideoSourceMode command is a commandthat instructs a change of the VSM of the VideoSource 6101 generated bythe client 2000 (for example, from S1 to S3 of FIG. 4).

In step S1000, the control unit 1001 stops a video stream being indistribution, through the communication unit 1005.

In step S1001, the control unit 1001 determines which of S1 to S3 is theinput VSM, acquires a corresponding set value of the VSM from thestorage unit 1002, and sets the set value to the image capturing unit1003.

In step S1002, the control unit 1001 sets an Enable flag correspondingto the VSM determined in step S1001 to True, and sets Enable flagscorresponding to other VSMs to False.

In step S1003, the control unit 1001 transmits a normal response to theclient 2000. The normal response is the SetVideoSourceMode responseillustrated in the transaction 7202 of FIG. 5B and the transaction 7399of FIG. 5C.

In step S1004, the control unit 1001 refers to the set RebootFlag of theVSM, and determines whether the VSM has been changed to the VSM thatrequires restart. The control unit 1001 moves the process to step S1010if the restart is required, and moves the process to step S1005 if notrequired.

In step S1005, the control unit 1001 transmits the VSM changenotification event through the communication unit 1005 in order tonotify the client on the network of the change of the VSM. As describedabove, the monitoring camera 1000 performs update notification bycompletion notification that indicates setting of at least one of theresolution, the frame rate, and the coding format of the captured datagenerate by the image capturing unit 1003 has been completed. The updatenotification notifies the client 2000 of a fact that the setting of theimage capturing unit 1003 or the encoding unit 1004 has been updated.

In step S1020, the control unit 1001 sets a VSM change notificationevent transmission flag to ON. The flag is referred by the control unit1001 in the restart process described below.

In step S1021, the control unit 1001 sets a restart start flag to ON.The flag is referred by the control unit 1001 after completion of thecommand processes, and the control unit 1001 executes the restartprocess (control procedure) following the command processes when theflag is ON.

In step S1006, the control unit 1001 refers to the table of FIG. 4stored in the storage unit 1002, and determines whether the VSM afterchange is consistent with the currently set VEC. As described withreference to FIG. 4, the setting of the VEC includes the setting of thecoding format (Encoding), the resolution (Resolution), and the maximumframe rate (FramerateLimit) of image data. When any of the plurality ofVECs set to the monitoring camera 1000 is inconsistent, the control unit1001 moves the process to step S1007.

Meanwhile, when there is no inconsistent VEC, the control unit 1001terminates the process of the command. As described above, even ifhaving received the change command of the VSM, the control unit 1001does not perform update notification to the client 2000 when notupdating the setting to the image data generated by the encoding unit1004.

In step S1007, the control unit 1001 changes the parameter of the VEC inwhich the inconsistency is caused in step S1006 to have contentconsistent with the VSM after change (update procedure). Variousimplementation is considered for the method of changing the content ofthe parameter.

For example, a case of changing the VSM from the S3 mode to the S1 modeof FIG. 4 will be described.

Before the change of the VSM (VSM=S3), assume that the setting of theVEC is Encoding=JPEG, Resultion=320×240, and FramerateLimit=25 fps. Inthe example illustrated in FIG. 4, the setting of the VSM before thechange and the setting of the VEC are consistent.

When the VSM is changed from S3 to S1, the setting of the VSM is changedto MaxResolution=3840×2160 (the proportions 16:9), MaxFramerate=20 fps,Encoding=H.264, and RebootFlag=False.

Meanwhile, the setting of the VEC remains Encoding=JPEG,Resolution=320×240 (the proportions 4:3), and FramerateLimit=25 fps.

At this time, Encoding, the proportions of Resolution, andFramerateLimit become inconsistent between the VSM after change and theset VEC.

Therefore, when the VSM is changed from S3 to S1, the setting of the VECis changed such that Encoding is changed from JPEG to H.264, Resolutionis changed from 320×240 to 960×540, and the FramerateLimit is changedfrom 25 fps to 20 fps.

Similarly, when the VEC is changed, and the VEC after change and the VSMbecome inconsistency, the VSM may be changed so that the VEC and the VSMcan be consistent. Details of an example of changing the VSM will bedescribed in a second embodiment.

When the monitoring camera 1000 automatically changes the VSM or the VECso that the VSM and the VEC are changed from the inconsistent state to aconsistent state, there may be a plurality of options of the set valueof the VSM or the VEC to be automatically changed. In this case, themonitoring camera 1000 can automatically select and set a predeterminedoption from among the plurality of options of the set value.

For example, a case in which the VSM is changed to the VSM of S2illustrated in FIG. 4 according to the command received from the client2000, and the monitoring camera 1000 automatically changes the VEC to beconsistent with the VSM (S2) will be described.

In this case, in the example of FIG. 4, as the set value of the codingsystem of the VEC after the automatic change, either H.264 or MPEG4 canbe selected and set. Further, as the set value of Resolution of the VECafter the automatic change, any of 3200×2400, 2048×1536, 1024×768, and640×480 can be selected and set. Further, as the setting of the framerate after the automatic setting, the frame rate can be selected and setbetween 1 to 30 fps.

When there is a plurality of options of the set value that can be set bythe monitoring camera 1000 when the VSM or the VEC is automaticallychanged, the method of selecting the option to be set is notparticularly limited.

For example, a predetermined option can be automatically set from amongthe plurality of settable options (set values). For example, there areH.264 and MPEG4 as the settable options of Encoding, H.264 can beautomatically set. Further, for example, when there is a plurality ofresolutions as the settable options of Resolution, the maximumresolution (having the largest number of pixels) can be automaticallyset from among the resolutions.

Alternatively, a set value corresponding to the set value before changecan be employed as the set value after change from among the pluralityof settable options (set values).

For example, among the settable options of Resolution, resolutioncorresponding to Resolution before change may be automatically set. Forexample, the order of size of the resolution may be set such that theorder before change and the order after change correspond to each other.

For example, when the VSM is changed from S2 to S1, and Resolutionbefore change is 640×480 (the second resolution in descending order ofsize of the resolution), Resolution after change can be made to1920×1080 (the second resolution in S1).

Further, for example, when the VSM is changed from S2 to S1, andFramerateLimit before change is 28 fps, FramerateLimit may be changed toFramerateLimit having the closest value to 28 fps from amongFramerateLimits consistent with the VSM (S1) after change. That is, whenVSM=S2 is changed to S1, FramerateLimit having 28 fps in S2 may bechanged to FramerateLimit having 20 fps in S1.

Referring back to the description of the flowchart of FIG. 6A. In stepS1008, the control unit 1001 determines whether the new VSM requiresrestart. The control unit 1001 can determine whether the restart isrequired by referring to the table illustrated in FIG. 4, and confirmingwhether RebootFlag of the new VSM is True or False. The control unit1001 moves the process to step S1009 when the restart is not required(RebootFlag is False), and moves the process to step S1030 when therestart is required (RebootFlag is True).

As described above, when the restart is not required with the change ofthe VSM, the VEC change notification is notified to the client 2000after the process of step S1007. Further, when the restart is performedwith the change of the VSM, a VEC change notification event transmissionflag is turned ON so that the VEC change notification is provided inaccordance with the restart process described with reference to FIG. 6D.

In step S1009, the control unit 1001 transmits the VEC changenotification (update notification) event through the communication unit1005 in order to notify the client on the network of the change of theVEC. As described above, the monitoring camera 1000 performs the updatenotification in response to completion of the setting of at least anyone of the resolution, the frame rate, and the coding format of theimage data generated by the encoding unit 1004. The update notificationnotifies the client 2000 of the fact that the setting to the imagecapturing unit 1003 or the encoding unit 1004 has been updated.

In step S1030, the control unit 1001 sets the VEC change notificationevent transmission flag to ON. The flag is referred by the control unit1001 in the restart process described below. When the flag is ON, thecontrol unit 1001 transmits the VEC change notification event to theclient 2000 after the restart process (notification procedure).

FIG. 6B illustrates a process of when the monitoring camera 1000 hasreceived a GetVECOptions command from the client 2000. The GetVECOptionscommand is a command transmitted to the monitoring camera 1000 so thatthe client 2000 acquires the options of 4005, 4006, and 4007 illustratedin FIG. 4.

In step S1100, the control unit 1001 determines which of S1 to S3 is theVSM currently set to the VideoSource 6101 by referring to the Enableflag.

In step S1101, the control unit 1001 acquires the options of the codingformat (Encoding) consistent with the current VSM by referring to thetable of FIG. 4 stored in the storage unit 1002.

In step S1102, the control unit 1001 acquires the options of theresolution (Resolution) of the VEC consistent with the current VSM byreferring to the table of FIG. 4 stored in the storage unit 1002.

In step S1103, the control unit 1001 acquires the options of the maximumframe rate (FramerateLimit) by referring to the table of FIG. 4 storedin the storage unit 1002.

For example, when the current VSM is S3, H.264 and JPEG are acquired asthe options of the coding system Encoding. Further, 1024×768, 640×480,320×240, and 176×144 are acquired as the options of Resolution. Further,1 to 30 fps is acquired as FramerateLimit.

In step S1104, the control unit 1001 acquires the options and thesetting ranges of the VEC independent of the current VSM from thestorage unit 1002. For example, as the settable range of the encodingquality (Quality), 1 to 5 is acquired. Further, as the options of themaximum bit rate (BitrateLimit), 1 to 60 Mbps is acquired.

In step S1105, the control unit 1001 includes the options and thesetting ranges acquired in steps S1101 to S1104 to a normal response,and returns the response to the client 2000 through the communicationunit 1005.

FIG. 6C illustrates a process of when the monitoring camera 1000 hasreceived the above-described SetVideoEncoderConfiguration command fromthe client 2000.

In step S1200, the control unit 1001 refers to the table of FIG. 4stored in the storage unit 1002, and determines whether the resolution,the coding format, and the maximum frame rate input to SetVEC receivedby the command are consistent with the current VSM. When none of them isconsistent, the control unit 1001 moves the process to step S1210.

In step S1201, the control unit 1001 stores the setting values of theVEC including the encoding quality, the maximum bit rate, the codingformat, the maximum frame rate, and the resolution in the storage unit1002, and sets the setting values to the encoding unit 1004.

In step S1202, the control unit 1001 transmits a normal response to theclient 2000.

In step S1203, the control unit 1001 transmits the VEC changenotification event through the communication unit 1005 in order tonotify the client on the network of the change of the VEC.

In step S1210, the control unit 1001 transmits an error response to theclient 2000.

FIG. 6D is a restart process. The process is a process executed by thecontrol unit 1001 when the restart start flag is ON after thetransaction 7399 of the SetVideoSourceMode command in FIG. 5C.

That is, when having received the SetVideoSourceMode command, themonitoring camera 1000 executes the process of FIG. 6A. After completionof the process of FIG. 6A, when the restart start flag is ON, therestart process is performed in the transaction 7401 of FIG. 5C. Therestart process is performed in the monitoring camera 1000 between thenetwork leaving notification event and the network joining event of FIG.5C.

In step S1700, the control unit 1001 transmits the network leavingnotification event through the communication unit 1005 in order tonotify the client on the network of start of restart.

In step S1701, the control unit 1001 performs an actual restart processof the monitoring camera 1000.

In step S1702, the control unit 1001 transmits the network joiningnotification event through the communication unit 1005 in order tonotify the client on the network of completion of the restart.

In step S1703, the control unit 1001 determines the VEC changenotification event transmission flag. When the flag is ON, the controlunit 1001 moves the process to step S1704.

In step S1704, the control unit 1001 transmits the VEC changenotification event through the communication unit 1005 in order tonotify the client on the network of the change of the VEC.

In step S1705, the control unit 1001 determines the VSM changenotification event transmission flag. When the flag is ON, the controlunit 1001 moves the process to step S1706.

In step S1706, the control unit 1001 transmits the VSM changenotification event through the communication unit 1005 in order tonotify the client on the network of the change of the VSM.

FIG. 7 illustrates an example of a setting screen of the client 2000 inwhich setting of the VSM and the VEC of the monitoring camera 1000 inthe present embodiment is performed. A control unit 2001 of the client2000 illustrated in FIG. 2 executes a program stored in the storage unit2002, thereby to control and display the setting screen in a displayunit 2003.

An area 9000 is a LiveView area. When the setting screen is opened, theclient 2000 executes the sequence described with reference to FIG. 5A,and displays a stream of a video image obtained in the transaction 7113in the area 9000.

An area 9001 is a first setting area in which a graphical user interface(GUI) for setting the set value for generating captured data by theimage capturing unit 1003 of the monitoring camera 1000 is displayed. Inthe present embodiment, the area 9001 is a VSM selection area. Theclient 2000 determines whether the monitoring camera 1000 handlesswitching of the VSM by means of the transaction 7099 ofGetServiceCapabilities executed together when the setting screen isopened.

When the monitoring camera 1000 handles the switching of the VSM, theclient 2000 lists the VSM that can be changed through the transaction7200 of GetVideoSourceMode so that the user can select the VSM (area9002).

In the area 9002, when a VSM different from the current setting isselected, the communication unit 2004 of the client 2000 transmits theSetVideoSourceMode command to the monitoring camera 1000, and changesthe VSM of the monitoring camera 1000. As described above, when the setvalue (for example, the VSM) for generating captured data is changedthrough the GUI displayed in the first setting area, the client 2000transmits a command that sets the changed set value to the monitoringcamera 1000.

The transmission of the SetVideoSourceMode command executed according tothe mode selection in the first setting area corresponds to the processexecuted by the client 2000 in the transaction 7202 of FIG. 5B and thetransaction 7399 of FIG. 5C.

Here, the transaction 7200 of FIG. 5B may be omitted. This is because,as described above, the client 2000 can determine whether the monitoringcamera 1000 handles the switching of the VSM by means of the transaction7099 of GetServiceCapabilities executed together when the setting screenis opened.

When having received the SetVideoSourceMode command transmitted from theclient 2000, the monitoring camera 1000 executes the SetVideoSourceModecommand process described with reference to FIG. 6A.

When the restart is required with the change of the VSM, the monitoringcamera 1000 executes the restart process illustrated in FIG. 6D afterexecuting the process of FIG. 6A. The restart process is executedbetween the network leaving event and the network joining event of thetransaction 7401 of FIG. 5C.

Meanwhile, when the restart is not required with the change of the VSM,the monitoring camera 1000 transmits the VEC change notification to theclient 2000 without performing the restart process, as illustrated instep S1009 of FIG. 6A.

When the VSM is changed by the process of FIG. 6A in the monitoringcamera 1000, the client 2000 receives the VideoSourceModechangenotification from the monitoring camera 1000 (the transaction 7202 ofFIG. 5B and the event 7402 of FIG. 5C).

When having received the VideoSourceModechange notification, the client2000 executed the transactions 7204 and 7205 illustrated in FIGS. 5B and5C, and acquires an updated VEC from the monitoring camera 1000.

When having acquired the updated VEC from the monitoring camera 1000,the client 2000 updates the display of the setting screen, and displaysthe options and the setting ranges of the updated parameters ofVideoEncoder. Accordingly, the client 2000 can always present theoptions and the setting ranges of the set values of the VEC consistentto the VSM to the user.

Tabs 9003 and 9004 are second setting areas that display graphical userinterfaces for setting the set values used by the encoding unit 1004 ofthe monitoring camera 1000 to generate image data. In the presentembodiment, the tabs 9003 and 9004 are used by the user to change theset values of the VEC 6103 of the monitoring camera 1000. By selectingthe tab, the user can switch VideoEncoder to which the setting isperformed. When the user selects the tab, the setting screen ofVideoEncoder corresponding to the selected tab is displayed.

While the number of tabs in the example illustrated in FIG. 7 is two,the number of tabs according to the number of the VECs 6103 supported bythe monitoring camera 1000 and obtained by theGetVideoEncoderConfigurations command can be displayed.

An area 9005 is an area in which the user is prompted to select a codingformat of the VECs. In the area 9005, the options of the coding formatobtained through the transaction 7106 of FIG. 5A are displayed. Further,in the area 9005, the options of the coding format obtained through thetransaction 7204 of FIG. 7B when the new VSM has been selected in theVSM selection area.

An area 9006 indicates the coding formats that can be set to themonitoring camera 1000 of when the setting screen of FIG. 7 is opened orthe monitoring camera 1000 in which the new VSM has been set. Further,an area 9007 indicates the coding formats that cannot be selected to themonitoring camera 1000 of when the setting screen of FIG. 7 is opened orthe monitoring camera 1000 in which the new VSM has been set.

An area 9008 is a Detail area in which the maximum frame rate, themaximum bit rate, and the encoding quality included in the VEC 6103 areselected.

An area 9009 indicates, with a scroll bar, the range of the frame ratethat can be set to the monitoring camera 1000 of when the setting screenof FIG. 7 is opened or the monitoring camera 1000 in which the new VSMhas been set. The range of the frame rate displayed in the area 9009 isdetermined based on the maximum frame rate obtained through thetransaction 7106 illustrated in FIG. 5A or the transaction 7204illustrated in FIG. 5B.

An area 9010 indicates, with a scroll bar, the range of the bit ratethat can be set to the monitoring camera 1000 of when the setting screenof FIG. 7 is opened or the monitoring camera 1000 in which the new VSMhas been set. The range of the bit rate displayed in the area 9010 isdetermined based on the maximum bit rate obtained through thetransaction 7106 illustrated in FIG. 5A or the transaction 7204illustrated in FIG. 5B.

An area 9011 indicates, with a scroll bar, the range of the encodingquality that can be set to the monitoring camera 1000 of when thesetting screen of FIG. 7 is opened or the monitoring camera 1000 inwhich the new VSM has been set. The range of the encoding qualitydisplayed in the area 9010 is determined based on the encoding qualityobtained through the transaction 7106 illustrated in FIG. 5A or thetransaction 7204 illustrated in FIG. 5B.

An area 9012 is an area in which the resolution of the VEC 6103 isselected. In a dropdown list of an area 9013, the options of theparameter of the coding format obtained through the transaction 7106illustrated in FIG. 5A or the transaction 7204 illustrated in FIG. 5B.

A button 9014 is an Apply button. When the Apply button is pressed bythe user, the client 2000 transmits the SetVideoEncoderconfigurationcommand to the monitoring camera 1000. By the transmission of thecommand, the parameters selected in the areas 9005, 9008, and 9012 areset to the encoding unit of the monitoring camera 1000.

An example of the setting screen of when the VSM mode is changed fromMode 1 to Mode 2 is illustrated in FIG. 12. When the VSM mode ischanged, the setting ranges of the VEC displayed on the tabs 9003 and9004 are changed to the setting ranges consistent with the VSM mode ofMode 2 with reference to the table of FIG. 4. That is, the coding formatthat can be selected in the area 9005 is H.264 or MPEG4. Further, thesettable frame rate in the area 9008 is from 1 to 30 fps. Further, theoptions of the resolution that can be selected in the area 9012 arechanged.

According to the monitoring camera 1000 in the present embodiment, whenthe VSM is changed according to the command received from the client2000, the setting content of the VEC can be updated to the contentconsistent with the VSM after change.

As described above, when the setting related to the generation of theimage data in the image capturing unit 1003 is changed, the settingrelated to the generation of the image data in the image capturing unit1003 and the setting related to the image data in the encoding unit 1004can be consistent with each other.

For example, when the setting of the resolution of the image datagenerated by the image capturing unit 1003 has been changed, the settingof the resolution of the image data generated by the image capturingunit 1003 and the setting of the resolution of the image data generatedby the encoding unit 1004 can be consistent with each other. Forexample, the proportions of the image data generated by the imagecapturing unit 1003 and the proportions of the resolution of the imagedata generated by the encoding unit 1004 can be consistent with eachother.

Further, when having changed the VEC with the change of the VSM, themonitoring camera 1000 in the present embodiment prompts the client 2000to reacquire the content of the VEC regardless of whether the setting ofrequiring restart with the setting of the new VSM is made. That is, whenhaving set the set value of the captured data generated by the imagecapturing unit 1003 according to the received command, the monitoringcamera 1000 transmits, to the client 2000, the update notification thatindicates the monitoring camera 1000 has automatically updated thesetting of the set value of the image data generated by the encodingunit 1004 regardless of whether performing the restart process. Here, inthe present embodiment, the set value includes a set value of at leastone of the resolution, the frame rate, and the coding format.

Accordingly, the set value to the image capturing unit 1003 of themonitoring camera 1000 and the set value to the encoding unit 1004 canbe consistent with each other between the monitoring camera 1000 and theclient 2000.

Further, the monitoring camera 1000 in the present embodiment changes,when having changed the VSM, the content of the options provided as aresponse to the GetVECOptions command transmitted by the client 2000. Atthis time, the options are returned after being changed to be consistentwith the VSM after change.

As described above, when the encoding setting of the monitoring camera1000 is changed, the setting to the monitoring camera 1000 performed inthe client 2000 can be appropriately performed.

Second Embodiment

While, in the first embodiment, a case of notifying the optionsconsistent with the VSM as the options of the set values of the encodingunit 1004 provided as a response to the received GetVECOptions commandhas been described, the embodiment is not limited to the case.

In the present embodiment, a case of providing a client 2000 withoptions including a set value other than a set value consistent with aVSM as a response to a GetVECOptions command will be described. Notethat, when all possible values that can be set as the set values to anencoding unit 1004 of a monitoring camera 1000 are consistent with acurrent VSM, all responses to the GetVECOptions command are set valuesconsistent with the VSM.

In the present embodiment, the options to be notified to the client 2000as a response to the GetVECOptions command are not dependent on thecurrently set VSM.

Further, in the present embodiment, a case in which the monitoringcamera 1000 switches the VSM to be consistent with set values of theencoding unit 1004 set by the client 2000 with aSetVideoEncoderConfiguration command. Note that description of thecontent already described in the first embodiment is omitted.

A configuration of a monitoring camera system, a configuration of themonitoring camera 1000, and a configuration of a parameter held by themonitoring camera 1000 according to the present embodiment are the sameas the content described with reference to FIGS. 1 to 3 in the firstembodiment. Therefore, description is omitted.

Further, in the present embodiment, an example of VSMs supported by themonitoring camera 1000 and the content of a settable range of a VEC 6103consistent with each VSM will be described with reference to the tableof FIG. 4, similarly to the first embodiment.

Next, command sequences between the monitoring camera 1000 and theclient 2000 will be described. A command sequence from start of settingto distribution of a video image between the monitoring camera 1000 andthe client 2000 is the same as the content described with reference toFIG. 5A in the first embodiment, and therefore, description is omitted.

Next, a command sequence of when output resolution of the encoding unit1004 is changed between the monitoring camera 1000 and the client 2000in the present embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. 8A.

Transactions described with reference to FIG. 5A in the first embodimentare denoted with the same reference signs as FIG. 5A, and description isomitted.

An event 7300 is a process of updating a VSM so that the inconsistencycaused between the VSM and a VEC caused due to a setting change of theVEC illustrated in a transaction 7107.

In the event 7300, when a newly set VSM does not require restart, thecontrol unit 1001 of the monitoring camera 1000 transmits a VSM changenotification event to the client 2000, and prompts the client on thenetwork to reacquire the VSM.

A transaction 7301 is a transaction of the GetVECOptions command.

A transaction 7302 is a command of a GetVideoEncoderConfigurationscommand.

The client 2000 that has received the VEC change notification eventillustrated in the transaction 7107 acquires the set value of the VECupdated through the transaction 7301. Further, the client 2000 that hasreceived the VEC change notification event illustrated in thetransaction 7107 acquires the options of the set value of the VECupdated through the transaction 7302.

A transaction 7303 is a command of a GetVideoSourceMode command. Theclient 2000 that has received the VSM change notification eventillustrated in the event 7300 can confirm the update of the VSM byreferring to an Enable flag included in the updated VSM in thetransaction 7303.

Next, a command sequence of when the resolution of the image data outputby the encoding unit 1004 and when the newly set VSM involves restartbetween the monitoring camera 1000 and the client 2000 will be describedwith reference to FIG. 8B. Transaction described with reference to FIG.8A are denoted with the same reference signs as FIG. 8A, and descriptionis omitted.

A process 7500 illustrates a process of updating the VSM so as toeliminate the inconsistency between the VSM and the VEC caused due tothe setting change of the VEC illustrated in the transaction 7107. Here,when the VSM is updated to a VSM that requires restart at updating, themonitoring camera 1000 does not transmit the VSM change notificationevent.

An event 7502 is the VSM change notification event, and the monitoringcamera 1000 transmits the event 7502 to the client 2000 after restart,and prompts the client to reacquire the set value.

Processes performed by the monitoring camera 1000 in the presentembodiment will be described with reference to FIGS. 9A and 9B. In anembodiment in which a processor is built in the control unit 1001 of themonitoring camera 1000, the process flows of FIGS. 9A and 9B indicate aprogram for causing the control unit 1001 to execute the proceduresillustrated in FIGS. 6A to 6D. The processor built on the control unit1001 is a computer, and executes a program read out from the storageunit 1002 built in the monitoring camera 1000.

FIG. 9A illustrates a process of when the monitoring camera 1000 hasreceived a GetVideoSourceConfigurationOptions command from the client2000. Here, the GetVideoSourceConfigurationOptions command is a commandfor requesting notification of the options of the set value that can beset to an image capturing unit 1003 of the monitoring camera 1000 fromthe client 2000 to the monitoring camera 1000. Hereinafter, theGetVideoSourceConfigurationOptions command is represented asGetVSCOptions command.

In step S1300, the control unit 1001 refers to the table of FIG. 4stored in a storage unit 1002, and acquires the options of the VECincluding set values other than the set value consistent with the setVSM.

In step S1301, the control unit 1001 refers to the table of FIG. 4stored in the storage unit 1002, and acquires the options of a codingformat of the VEC including set values other than the set valueconsistent with the VSM. In the example of FIG. 4, the control unit 1001acquires JPEG, MPEG4, and H.264.

In step S1302, the control unit 1001 refers to the table of FIG. 4stored in the storage unit 1002, and acquires a value of a maximum framerate of the VEC including set values other than the set value consistentwith the set VSM. In the example of FIG. 4, the control unit 1001acquires 30 fps.

In step S1303, the control unit 1001 acquires options and setting rangesof the VEC from the storage unit 1002. For example, 1 to 5 as a settablerange of the encoding quality, and 60 Mbps as the set value of themaximum bit rate are acquired.

In step S1304, the control unit 1001 includes the options and thesetting ranges acquired in steps S1300 to S1303 to a normal response,and returns the response to the client 2000 through a communication unit1005.

FIG. 9B illustrates a process of when the monitoring camera 1000 hasreceived a SetVideoEncoderConfiguration command from the client 2000.

Processes described with reference to FIG. 6C in the first embodiment isdenoted with the same reference signs, and description is omitted.

In step S1400, the control unit 1001 refers to the table of FIG. 4stored in the storage unit 1002, and determines whether the codingformat, the resolution, and the maximum frame rate set to the receivedVEC are consistent with the current VSM.

When consistent, the control unit 1001 terminates the command process.As described above, when having received the change command of the VECand when does not change the setting to the image data generated by theimage capturing unit 1003, the control unit 1001 does not perform updatenotification to the client 2000.

In not consistent, the control unit 1001 moves the process to stepS1410. In step S1410, the control unit 1001 refers to the table of FIG.4 stored in the storage unit 1002, and switches the setting to the VSMconsistent with the input VEC. For example, when the VSM is S1, acommand that causes the resolution of the encoding unit 1004 to be640×480, the VSM is switched to S3 consistent with the resolution.

In step S1411, the control unit 1001 refers to the set RebootFlag of theVSM, and determines whether the VSM has been changed to the VSM thatrequires restart. The control unit 1001 moves the process to step S1010if the restart is required, and moves the process to step S1005 if notrequired.

In step S1412, the control unit 1001 transmits the VSM changenotification event through the communication unit 1005 in order tonotify the client on the network of the change of the VSM. As describedabove, when having updated the setting (VSM) of the captured datagenerated by the image capturing unit 1003 so as to be consistent withthe VEC after change according to the change command of the VEC, thecontrol unit 1001 performs update notification that indicates the VSMhas been changed even if the restart is not required with the change ofthe VSM.

In step S1411, the control unit 1001 refers to RebootFlag of the updatedVSM, and determines whether the VSM has been changed to the VSM thatrequires the restart. The control unit 1001 moves the process to stepS1420 when the restart is required (RebootFlag is True), and moves theprocess to step S1412 when the restart is not required (RebootFlag isFalse).

In step S1412, the control unit 1001 transmits the VSM changenotification event through the communication unit 1005 in order tonotify the client 2000 on the network of the change of the VSM.

In step S1420, the control unit 1001 sets a VSM change notificationevent transmission flag to ON.

In step S1421, the control unit 1001 sets a restart start flag to ON.

A restart process is the same as the content described with reference toFIG. 6D in the first embodiment, and therefore, description is omitted.In the restart process, as described below, the fact that the VSM hasbeen changed is notified to the client 2000.

As described above, when the VSM is changed to be consistent with theVEC after change according to the change command of the VEC, the controlunit 1001 performs the update notification that indicates the VSM hasbeen changed regardless of whether the restart is required with thechange of the VSM.

That is, when having updated the set value (VSM) for generating thecaptured data according to a command from the client 2000, the controlunit 1001 performs the notification (VSM change notification) throughthe network regardless of whether performing the restart process. TheVSM change notification is a notification for causing the client 2000 toacquire the updated VSM.

A setting screen of the client 2000 in which the setting of the VSM andthe VEC of the monitoring camera 1000 in the present embodiment isperformed will be described with reference to FIG. 7.

In a dropdown list of an area 9103, the content of the options of theparameter of the coding format acquired by GetVECOptions executed whenthe setting screen is opened is displayed. In the dropdown list of thearea 9103 in the present embodiment, the options of the coding formatsincluding a coding format other than the coding format consistent withthe set VSM are displayed.

A communication unit 2004 of the client 2000 transmits, when the setvalue set to the encoding unit 1004 of the monitoring camera 1000 ischanged using the dropdown list of a tab 9003 or a tab 9004, a commandthat sets the changed set value to the monitoring camera 1000. Thecommand that sets the changed set value is, for example, theSetVideoEncoderConfiguration command in the present embodiment.

The communication unit 2004 of the client 2000 receives the VSM changenotification event when the monitoring camera 1000 has changed thesetting (for example, the VSM) for generating the captured dataaccording to the SetVideoEncoderConfiguration command.

When having received the VSM change notification event, the client 2000refers to an Enable flag acquired by transmission of theGetVideoSourceMode command, determines an updated and effective VSM, andreflects the VSM to a VSM selection area 9001. The GetVideoSourceModecommand is an acquisition request of the set value for generating thecaptured data.

Other parts of the setting screen are the same as the content describedin the first embodiment, and therefore, description is omitted.

In the second embodiment, the monitoring camera 1000 provides the client2000 with all of the setting content of the VEC that can be set to theencoding unit 1004 as the options regardless of the current setting ofthe VSM.

When a parameter of the VEC, which is not consistent with the currentVSM, is designated by the client, the monitoring camera 1000 of thepresent embodiment automatically updates the VSM to the VSM consistentwith the newly set VEC.

Further, when the VEC has been updated, the monitoring camera 1000prompts the client to reacquire the content of the VSM regardless ofwhether the newly set VSM requires restart.

As described above, when the setting related to the generation of theimage data in the encoding unit 1004 is changed, the setting related tothe generation of the image data in the image capturing unit 1003 andthe setting related to the image data in the encoding unit 1004 can beconsistent with each other.

For example, when the setting of the resolution of the image datagenerated by the encoding unit 1004 has been changed, the setting of theresolution of the image data generated by the image capturing unit 1003and the setting of the resolution of the image data generated by theencoding unit 1004 can be consistent with each other. For example, theproportions of the image data generated by the image capturing unit 1003and the proportions of the resolution of the image data generated by theencoding unit 1004 can be consistent with each other.

Further, when having changed the VSM with the change of the VEC, themonitoring camera 1000 in the present embodiment prompts the client 2000to reacquire the content of the VEC regardless of whether the setting ofrequiring restart with the setting of the new VSM is made.

Accordingly, the set value to the image capturing unit 1003 of themonitoring camera 1000 and the set value to the encoding unit 1004 canbe consistent with each other between the monitoring camera 1000 and theclient 2000.

Third Embodiment

In the first and second embodiments, as a method of prompting the clientto reacquire the setting value of the VSM, a method of transmitting theVSM change notification event from the monitoring camera 1000 to theclient 2000 has been described. Further, in the first and secondembodiments, as the method of prompting the client 2000 to reacquire theset value of the VEC, a method of transmitting the VEC changenotification event from the monitoring camera 1000 to the client 2000has been described. However, the methods of notifying the VSM and theVEC are not limited to the above methods.

In a third embodiment, a case of transmitting, from a monitoring camera1000 to a client 2000, a leaving notification event and a networkjoining notification event from the network, and prompting the client2000 to reacquire a set value of a VSM or a VEC will be described. Inthe present embodiment, the monitoring camera 1000 performs updatenotification that notifies the setting of the image data generated bythe encoding unit 1004 has been updated by means of reconnectionnotification that indicates the monitoring camera 1000 has beenreconnected to the network after leaving the network. Note that, aboutthe content already described in the first and second embodiments,description is omitted.

A configuration of a monitoring camera system, a configuration of themonitoring camera 1000, and a configuration of a parameter held by themonitoring camera 1000 according to the present embodiment are the sameas the content described with reference to FIGS. 1 to 3 in the firstembodiment. Therefore, description is omitted.

Further, in the present embodiment, an example of VSMs supported by themonitoring camera 1000 and the content of a settable range of a VEC 6103consistent with each VSM will be described with reference to the tableof FIG. 4, similarly to the first embodiment.

Next, command sequences between the monitoring camera 1000 and theclient 2000 will be described. A command sequence from start of settingto distribution of a video image between the monitoring camera 1000 andthe client 2000 is the same as the content described with reference toFIG. 5A in the first embodiment, and therefore, description is omitted.

Next, a command sequence from change of setting of the VSM todistribution of a video image between the monitoring camera 1000 and theclient 2000 of the present embodiment will be described with referenceto FIG. 10A. In FIG. 10A, the content similar to FIG. 5B is denoted withthe same reference signs, and description is omitted.

A transaction 7600 is a transaction of a SetVideoSourceMode command. TheSetVideoSourceMode command is a command used by the client 2000 forinstructing the monitoring camera 1000 to change the VSM of VideoSource6101.

A process 7601 is a process of updating the inconsistency caused betweenthe VSM and the VEC due to switching of SetVideoSourceMode in thetransaction 7600.

A process 7602 is a process in which the control unit 1001 of themonitoring camera 1000 transmits a network leaving notification event(Bye) and a network joining notification event (Hello) in order tonotify the client on the network of the VSM and the change of the VEC.Here, when the switching of the VSM in the transaction 7600 requiresrestart, a restart process of the monitoring camera 1000 can beperformed between the network leaving notification event and the networkjoining notification event.

When having received the network joining notification event (Hello), theclient 2000 transmits an acquisition request of the set value in orderto acquire the set value (VEC) set to the monitoring camera 1000.

That is, the client 2000 transmits GetVideoEncoderConfigurationsOptions.Then, the client 2000 receives a GetVideoEncoderConfigurationsOptionsresponse in response to the GetVideoEncoderConfigurationsOptions command(a process 7204).

Following that, the client 2000 transmits aGetVideoEncoderConfigurations command to the monitoring camera 1000. Theclient 2000 then acquires the VEC after the update as a response to theGetVideoEncoderConfigurations command (a process 7205).

FIG. 10B illustrates a command sequence of when output resolution of theencoding unit 1004 is changed between the monitoring camera 1000 and theclient 2000. In FIG. 10B, the content described with reference to FIG.5D in the first embodiment is denoted with the same reference signs, anddescription is omitted.

A transaction 7700 is a transaction of a SetVideoEncoderConfigurationcommand. In the transaction 7700, the client 2000 sets parameters of theVEC.

A transaction 7701 is a process of updating the VSM in order toeliminate the inconsistency caused between the VSM and the VEC due tosetting change of the VEC in the transaction 7700.

A process 7702 is a process in which the control unit 1001 of themonitoring camera 1000 transmits the network leaving notification eventand the network joining notification event in order to notify the clienton the network of the VEC and the change of the VSM. Here, when theswitching of the VSM illustrated in the transaction 7701 requiresrestart, a restart process of the monitoring camera 1000 may beperformed between the network leaving notification event and the networkjoining notification event.

Next, processes performed by the monitoring camera 1000 of the presentembodiment will be described with reference to FIGS. 11A and 11B. In anembodiment in which a processor is built in the control unit 1001 of themonitoring camera 1000, the process flows of FIG. 11A and FIG. 11Bindicate a program for causing the control unit 1001 to execute theprocedures illustrated in FIGS. 11A and 11B. The processor built on thecontrol unit 1001 is a computer, and executes a program read out fromthe storage unit 1002 built in the monitoring camera 1000.

FIG. 11A is a flowchart of a process of when the monitoring camera 1000has received a GetVSCOptions command from the client 2000.

FIG. 11B is a flowchart of a process of when the monitoring camera 1000has received the above-described SetVideoSource command from the client2000. Processes in FIG. 11B that are the same as those in FIG. 6A aredenoted with the same reference signs, and description is omitted.

In step S1500 of FIG. 11A, the control unit 1001 refers to the table ofFIG. 4 stored in the storage unit 1002, and determines whether the VSMafter change is consistent with the currently set VEC. The control unit1001 moves the process to step S1007 if there is any insistent VEC, andmoves the process to step S1502 if there is no inconsistent VEC.

In step S1502, the control unit 1001 transmits the network leavingnotification event to the client 2000.

In step S1503, the control unit 1001 refers to set RebootFlag of theVSM, and determines whether the VSM has been changed to the VSM thatrequires restart. The control unit 1001 executes step S1701 when therestart is required (RebootFlag is True), and moves the process to stepS1505 when the restart is not required (RebootFlag is False).

In step S1701, the control unit 1001 performs an actual restart processof the monitoring camera 1000. As described above, when having receiveda command that causes the image capturing unit 1003 to generate captureddata in a predetermined set value, the control unit 1001 controls therestart process after transmitting, to the client 2000, the leavingnotification that indicates the monitoring camera 1000 has left thenetwork. Here, in the present embodiment, the command that generatescaptured data in a predetermined set value is a command that causes thecaptured data of the image capturing unit 1003 to have predeterminedresolution, a predetermined frame rate, or a predetermined codingformat.

In step S1505, the control unit 1001 transmits the network joiningnotification event to the client 2000. When having received the networkjoining notification event, the client 2000 reacquires the set value setto the monitoring camera 1000. The reacquired set value includes a VEC.

As described above, the monitoring camera 1000 can prompt the client2000 to reacquire the set value of the monitoring camera 1000 accordingto an update of the setting of at least one of the resolution, the framerate, and the coding format of the image data generated by the encodingunit 1004. That is, when having set the set value (for example, the VSM)for generating the captured data according to a received command, themonitoring camera 1000 performs, through the network, notification thatindicates the monitoring camera 1000 has connected to the network. Thenotification is performed regardless of whether a restart process isperformed.

FIG. 11B illustrates a process of when the monitoring camera 1000 hasreceived the above-described SetVideoEncoderConfiguration command fromthe client 2000.

A process from steps S1201 to S1203 is similar to the process describedwith reference to FIG. 6C in the first embodiment.

In step S1400, the control unit 1001 refers to the table of FIG. 4stored in the storage unit 1002, and determines whether the codingformat, the resolution, and the maximum frame rate set to the receivedVEC are consistent with the current VSM.

When consistent, the control unit 1001 terminates the command process.As described above, when having received the change command of the VECand when does not change the setting to the image data generated by theimage capturing unit 1003, the control unit 1001 does not perform updatenotification to the client 2000.

In not consistent, the control unit 1001 moves the process to stepS1410. In step S1410, the control unit 1001 refers to the table of FIG.4 stored in the storage unit 1002, and switches the setting to the VSMconsistent with the input VEC.

Next, in step S1502, the control unit 1001 transmits the network leavingnotification event to the client 2000 in order to notify the client 2000on the network of the change of the VSM.

In step S1503, the control unit 1001 refers to the set RebootFlag of theVSM, and determines whether the VSM has been changed to the VSM thatrequires restart. The control unit 1001 executes step S1701 when therestart is required (RebootFlag is True), and moves the process to stepS1505 when the restart is not required (RebootFlag is False).

In step S1701, the control unit 1001 performs an actual restart processof the monitoring camera 1000. As described above, when having receiveda command that causes the encoding unit 1004 to generate image data in apredetermined set value, the control unit 1001 controls the restartprocess after transmitting the leaving notification that indicates themonitoring camera 1000 has left the network to the client 2000. Here, inthe present embodiment, the command that generates captured data in apredetermined set value is a command that causes the captured data ofthe image capturing unit 1003 to have predetermined resolution, apredetermined frame rate, or a predetermined coding format.

In step S1505, the control unit 1001 transmits the network joining eventto the client 2000 in order to notify the client 2000 on the network ofthe change of the VEC. As described above, the monitoring camera 1000notifies the setting of at least one of the resolution, the frame rate,and the coding format of the image data generated by the encoding unit1004 has been updated by means of reconnection notification thatindicates the monitoring camera 1000 has been reconnected to the networkafter completion of the restart process.

As described above, when having received the network joiningnotification event (Hello), the client 2000 transmits an acquisitionrequest (GetVideoEncoderConfigurationsOptions) of the set value in orderto acquire the set value (VEC) set to the monitoring camera 1000.

FIG. 7 illustrates an example of a setting screen of the client 2000 inwhich setting of the VSM and the VEC of the monitoring camera 1000described in the present embodiment is performed.

In the third embodiment, the monitoring camera 1000 updates, when one ofthe VSM and the VEC has been changed by the client 2000, the other tohave consistent content.

As described above, the setting related to the generation of the imagedata in the image capturing unit 1003 and the setting related to theimage data in the encoding unit 1004 can be consistent with each other.

Further, when having updated the other, the monitoring camera 1000transmits a network leaving notification event and a network rejoiningnotification event to the client 2000 regardless of whether restart isrequired for the setting to a new VSM.

Accordingly, the set value to the image capturing unit 1003 of themonitoring camera 1000 and the set value to the encoding unit 1004 canbe consistent with each other between the monitoring camera 1000 and theclient 2000.

According to the first to third embodiments, the set value to the imagecapturing unit and the set value to the encoding unit of the monitoringcamera can be consistent with each other between the image capturingdevice and the client.

Other Embodiments

As described above, while the monitoring camera in which the presentinvention is incorporated, the application program, and the operation ofthe client has been illustrated in the first to third embodiments, theembodiments are not necessarily limited to the above description, andmay be partially changed.

In FIG. 9A of the second embodiment, a case has been described, inwhich, when having received a command of GetVECOptions, the monitoringcamera 1000 provides the client 2000 with the options of the set valuesof all VECs that can be acquired by the monitoring camera 1000. However,the embodiment is not limited to the description. For example, responsesto the GetVECOptions command may be switched before and after the client2000 first designates the set value after the client 2000 is connectedto the monitoring camera 1000.

That is, when the monitoring camera 1000 has received the GetVECOptionscommand before the client 2000 first designates the set value of the VECafter the client 2000 is connected to the monitoring camera 1000, themonitoring camera 1000 performs the process of S1300 as a response.Meanwhile, when the monitoring camera 1000 has received theGetVECOptions command after the client 2000 once sets the set value ofthe VEC to the monitoring camera 1000, the monitoring camera 1000 mayperform the process of FIG. 6B of the first embodiment as a response.

That is, the monitoring camera 1000 receives a transmission request ofcandidates of the set value (VEC) that can be set as the resolution, theframe rate, or the coding format of image data generated by the encodingunit 1004. When having received the transmission request beforereceiving the set value (VSM) of the image capturing unit 1003 from theclient 2000, the monitoring camera 1000 notifies the client 2000 ofinformation indicating the candidates of the set value (VEC) that can beset to the encoding unit 1004. Further, when having received thetransmission request after receiving the command that sets the set value(VSM) of the image capturing unit 1003 from the client 2000, themonitoring camera 1000 notifies the client 2000 of informationindicating the set value consistent with the received command from amongthe candidates of the set value (VEC) that can be set to the encodingunit 1004.

Thereby, when the client 2000 first performs setting to the monitoringcamera 1000, the client 2000 can select and set the VEC from among allset values that can be set to the encoding unit 1004 of the monitoringcamera 1000. Further, the VSM consistent with the set VEC isautomatically set by the monitoring camera 1000. Once the VEC and theVSM are set to the monitoring camera 1000, the client 2000 can selectthe set value from among the VECs consistent with the set VSM. Asdescribed above, the process of the first embodiment and the process ofthe second embodiment may be used together.

Further, in step S1410, a case has been described, in which the VSMadaptable to the resolution set to the encoding unit 1004 is set by theSetVideoEncoderConfiguration command. However, the embodiment is notlimited to the description. For example, a plurality of VSMs adaptableto the set resolution exists may exist. Therefore, the adaptable VSM maybe selected based on not only the resolution, but also a plurality ofother settings of the encoding unit such as the encoding format, themaximum frame rate, and the like.

Further, in the step S1301, the coding formats of all possible VECs areacquired as the options. However, the embodiment is not limited to thedescription. Only the options of the coding formats commonly consistentwith all VSMs may be acquired. Thereby, while the range of providing theoptions is decreased, the coding format that is not consistent with theVSM selected at that time is prevented from being designated by theSetVideoEncoderConfiguration command in step S1201.

In the process of steps S1300 to S1302 of FIG. 9A, all possible VECs areacquired. However, the embodiment is not limited to the description. Theoptions of the set value commonly consistent with the VSMs (for example,in the example of FIG. 4, S1 to S3) that can be set to the monitoringcamera 1000 may be acquired. Thereby, while the range of providing theoptions is decreased, the setting of the VEC inconsistent with the VSMset to the monitoring camera 1000 can be prevented.

In this case, as for the maximum frame rate and the maximum bit rate,the maximum frame rate and the maximum bit rate from among the setvalues commonly consistent with the VSMs (in the example of FIG. 4, S1to S3) that can be set to the monitoring camera 1000 can be provided asthe set values.

Further, the restart process of the monitoring camera 1000 may be, forexample, restart of an execution process related to the processes of thechanged VSC and VEC, or restart of an operation system of the monitoringcamera 1000.

A case has been described with reference to FIG. 5C, in which both ofthe VSM change notification event 7402 and the VEC change notificationevent 7403 are transmitted following the network leaving event/joiningnotification event 7401. However, the embodiment is not limited to thedescription. After the notification of both of the VSM changenotification event 7402 and the VEC change notification event 7403, thenetwork leaving event/joining notification event 7401 may be performed.

Embodiments of the present invention can also be realized by a computerof a system or apparatus that reads out and executes computer executableinstructions recorded on a storage medium (e.g., non-transitorycomputer-readable storage medium) to perform the functions of one ormore of the above-described embodiment(s) of the present invention, andby a method performed by the computer of the system or apparatus by, forexample, reading out and executing the computer executable instructionsfrom the storage medium to perform the functions of one or more of theabove-described embodiment(s). The computer may comprise one or more ofa central processing unit (CPU), micro processing unit (MPU), or othercircuitry, and may include a network of separate computers or separatecomputer processors. The computer executable instructions may beprovided to the computer, for example, from a network or the storagemedium. The storage medium may include, for example, one or more of ahard disk, a random-access memory (RAM), a read only memory (ROM), astorage of distributed computing systems, an optical disk (such as acompact disc (CD), digital versatile disc (DVD), or Blu-ray Disc (BD)™),a flash memory device, a memory card, and the like.

While the present invention has been described with reference toexemplary embodiments, it is to be understood that the invention is notlimited to the disclosed exemplary embodiments. The scope of thefollowing claims is to be accorded the broadest interpretation so as toencompass all such modifications and equivalent structures andfunctions.

What is claimed is:
 1. A communication apparatus comprising: acommunication unit configured to receive a command for changingVideoSourceMode to define at least one of a frame rate, resolution and acoding method from an external apparatus via a network; and a controlunit configured to perform a reboot process in a case where theVideoSourceMode is changed from first VideoSourceMode to secondVideoSourceMode different from the first VideoSourceMode according tothe command, and not perform a reboot process in a case where theVideoSourceMode is changed from the first VideoSourceMode to a thirdVideoSourceMode different from the first VideoSourceMode and the secondVideoSourceMode according to the command.
 2. The communication apparatusaccording to claim 1, wherein the VideoSourceMode is information todefine a maximum value of a frame rate.
 3. The communication apparatusaccording to claim 1, wherein the VideoSourceMode is information todefine a maximum value of resolution.
 4. The communication apparatusaccording to claim 1, wherein the VideoSourceMode is information todefine a usable coding method.
 5. The communication apparatus accordingto claim 1, wherein the VideoSourceMode is information to define anoption of resolution.
 6. The communication apparatus according to claim1, wherein the VideoSourceMode is information to define a settable rangeof FramerateLimit.
 7. The communication apparatus according to claim 1,wherein the VideoSourceMode is information to define a parameter inVideoEncoderConfiguration.
 8. The communication apparatus according toclaim 1, wherein the VideoSourceMode is information to define aparameter in VideoSource.
 9. The communication apparatus according toclaim 1, wherein the VideoSourceMode is information to indicate acombination of a parameter in VideoSource and a parameter inVideoEncoderConfiguration.
 10. The communication apparatus according toclaim 1, wherein the communication unit is configured to transmit anetwork leaving notification in a case where the control unit performsthe reboot process.
 11. The communication apparatus according to claim1, wherein VideoEncoderConfiguration is to be changed in a case wherethe VideoSourceMode is changed and VideoSourceMode to which theVideoSourceMode has been changed is inconsistent with theVideoEncoderConfiguration.
 12. The communication apparatus according toclaim 1, wherein the command is SetVideoSourceMode.
 13. Thecommunication apparatus according to claim 1, wherein a predeterminednotification is transmitted to the external apparatus in a case wherethe control unit performs the reboot process.
 14. The communicationapparatus according to claim 13, wherein the predetermined notificationis a notification to indicate that the communication apparatus isconnected to the network.
 15. The communication apparatus according toclaim 14, wherein the predetermined notification is a notification inresponse to change of the VideoSourceMode.
 16. The communicationapparatus according to claim 1, further comprising an image capturingapparatus in which the VideoSourceMode is set.
 17. The communicationapparatus according to claim 16, wherein the communication unit isconfigured to transmit a video stream to be imaged by the imagecapturing apparatus, and wherein the control unit is configured to stopthe communication unit from transmitting the video stream in response toreception of the command.
 18. The communication apparatus according toclaim 16, wherein the control unit is configured to perform the rebootprocess in a case where a set value set in the image capturing apparatusis changed to a predetermined set value.
 19. The communication apparatusaccording to claim 18, wherein the predetermined set value ispredetermined resolution.
 20. The communication apparatus according toclaim 18, wherein the predetermined set value is a predetermined framerate.
 21. The communication apparatus according to claim 18, wherein thepredetermined set value is a predetermined coding method.
 22. Acommunication method comprising: receiving a command for changingVideoSourceMode to define at least one of a frame rate, resolution and acoding method from an external apparatus via a network; and performing areboot process in a case where the VideoSourceMode is changed from firstVideoSourceMode to second VideoSourceMode different from the firstVideoSourceMode according to the command, and not perform a rebootprocess in a case where the VideoSourceMode is changed from the firstVideoSourceMode to a third VideoSourceMode different from the firstVideoSourceMode and the second VideoSourceMode according to the command.23. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium storing a programthat causes a computer to perform a communication method, the programcomprising: receiving a command for changing VideoSourceMode to defineat least one of a frame rate, resolution and a coding method from anexternal apparatus via a network; and performing a reboot process in acase where the VideoSourceMode is changed from first VideoSourceMode tosecond VideoSourceMode different from the first VideoSourceModeaccording to the command, and not perform a reboot process in a casewhere the VideoSourceMode is changed from the first VideoSourceMode to athird VideoSourceMode different from the first VideoSourceMode and thesecond VideoSourceMode according to the command.